1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to pedal steel guitars and more particularly to a pitch-changing arrangement which improves the tonal quality of the sounds generated by said pedal steel guitar.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The pedal steel guitar is a lute-type instrument which normally comprises one or two necks, each neck having from eight to fourteen strings. A pedal or lever-actuated pitch-changer is generally provided which allows the pitch of selected strings to be raised or lowered in order to expand the number of musical chords available to the player. In this regard, the strings of the pedal steel guitar are normally tuned to a standard tuning wherein the tension on each string is adjusted to produce a selected pitch. Pitch-changing devices allow the tension on selected strings or groups of strings to be selectively increased or decreased, thereby selectively altering the pitch of the strings. For example, a typical pedal steel guitar is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,214, herein incorporated by reference. A typical all-pull pitch-changing device of the prior art is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,075, herein incorporated by reference.
Nowadays the prior art design which is considered the “benchmark” for tonal quality in pedal steel guitars is commonly known as the “Emmons” guitar, such as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,447,413, commonly invented by Lashley and Emmons. The mechanism of this guitar has also been given a popularly-used name, i.e., it is commonly referred to in the industry as a “push-pull” mechanism. The design featuring this push-pull mechanism was likely designed around the prevalent technology circa the time of the invention (i.e., 1965). That is, among other things, the design featuring this push-pull mechanism uses the guitar cabinet slot as the forward mechanical stop for the raising pitch-changing levers. In any event, the resultant tone of this instrument was far superior to anything else before, and possibly anything else to date subsequent to its design. Technically speaking, this “push-pull” mechanism is inferior to most any “all-pull” mechanism of today. It is believed by the inventor hereof (who has been in the business of designing and manufacturing pedal steel guitars for twenty-nine years) that no one has ever used the cabinet slot of the guitar body as a forward stop for the raised pitch of the string (such as used in the “Emmons” patent reference of U.S. Pat. No. 3,447,413) within the design environment of an “all-pull” mechanism. The patent reference of Carter, U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,075 can be distinguished in this respect because it stops the raise lever in the neutral position.
To a large degree, the tonal quality of pedal steel guitars is determined by the transmission of the string energy through the guitar. This includes transmission of energy through the various components of the guitar including the end plates, pitch-changer, levers, keyheads, return stops, etc., but primarily and foremost, through the guitar cabinet soundboard itself. The guitar cabinet soundboard may be defined as that section of guitar cabinet top that lies between the pitch-changing bridge and the tuning keyhead assembly at the opposite end of the guitar top. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to improve the tonal qualities of a pedal steel guitar by means of a pitch-changing arrangement and/or mounting design which distinctively transfers the string energy into the guitar cabinet soundboard of the pedal steel guitar by an improved way over the prior art.
An existing problem in today's typical all-pull pedal steel guitar is the effect of temperature on the tuning of the raised pitch-changers. Since the raise lever is actuated by a metallic pull rod being of a possible overall length of approximately thirty inches, a change in ambient room temperature can cause this pull rod to expand or contract, thus affecting the raised pitch of the string. It will become apparent that the present invention eliminates this problem by its inherent design.
A number of additional features and objects will be apparent in connection with the following discussion of preferred embodiments and examples.